The present invention relates generally to the field of surgical instruments and more particularly to a scalpel type cutting instrument which is designed to be manipulated by the hand of a physician.
Surgical cutting instruments such as scalpels are widely used to perform surgery. A variety of blade configurations are widely available. The traditional scalpel consists of a blade fixed to a handle. In operation the handle is manipulated by the physician to make an incision. Although infrequent the exposed cutting surface of the traditional scalpel can inadvertently cut the physician or surgical assistant. The potential for blood born infection has created a demand for surgical instruments which retract or otherwise shield the user from inadvertent xe2x80x9cpricksxe2x80x9d. For example a wide variety of scalpels with retractable blades are available in the industry. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,337. Although xe2x80x9csafexe2x80x9d surgical instruments are now widely available there is a continuing need to improve the performance of such devices so that they meet the users"" expectations in terms of performance as a surgical instrument as well as offer improved safety.
In contrast to prior art devices the present cutting tool incorporates a number of features. In one embodiment the blade may be rotated about its major axis providing a variety of cutting angles for a given handle position. In another embodiment the blade orientation is fixed.
In all embodiments the blade retracts into the handle which defines the closed position. The blade is biased toward a closed configuration by a spring feature which may be activated by a finger release. When the finger release is activated the blade is automatically retracted into the body of the device. To move the blade into the xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d or operating position the user moves the finger slider toward the proximal end of the handle and a combination of gears and racks advances the blade out of the distal tip of the body.